TENNIS TUESDAY: Verdasco Stuns Nadal In Miami; Venus Beats #5 Woz

Verdasco Beats Nadal For 2nd Consecutive Match
Fernando Verdasco is a very popular player (for some obvious reasons!) but he has had a horrible record against his nation's #1 player for a long time. However the last time they met (in Madrid 2012) Verdasco handed Nadal one of his rare defeats on clay (and I was present to see it!!) The two met on hardcourts in Miami yesterday and amazingly Verdasco was able to win again (6-4 2-6 6-3). Sadly, Verdasco then lost his next round, against Juan Monaco.


Venus Shows She Can Compete With The Best
Venus Williams dispatched World #5 Caroline Wozniacki at the Miami Open in straight sets, managing to maintain her perfect head-to-head record of 7-0 against the Danish former World #1.
Unfortunately, Venus then lost her quarterfinal match against Carla Suarez Navarro despite winning the first set 6-0!

Nadal Likely To Fall To #5
Because Nadal reached the final of the Miami Open last year he has a lot of points to defend his loss to Verdasco means it is very likely that he will fall to World #5, surpassed by Kei Nishikori for the first time.

Isner Wins 1st Career Clay Title In Houston (Over Almagro)

AP Photo/Eric Gay

John Isner of the United States won his first title of 2013 and the 6th of his career by defeating Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3 7-5 at the U.S. Clay Court Championships in Houston, Texas on Sunday. It was the American's first career win on clay, and he had to beat 2012 U.S. Clay Court champion Juan Monaco in the semifinal and one of the Top 5 clay court players in the world to do it. Tennis reporter Matt Cronin ranks the Top 5 clay court players in the world as (Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, David Ferrer and then Almagro. Note the glaring absence of World #2 Andy Murray from this list!) So this was quite a significant achievement for the 27-year-old American who turns 28 on Thursday. His 6 titles include 3 on outdoor hard-court, 2 on grass and 1 on clay. His record in ATP tour finals is now 6 wins and 7 losses (including last year in the final of the same tournament to Monaco). Almagro is also 27 but has won 12 ATP titles (all on clay) and now has a 12-7 record in finals.

Both Almagro and Isner have huge serves, and are currently #1 and #2 on the ATP World Tour MatchFacts for number of aces served in 2013 (266 and 258, respectively). This counts the record 60 aces that Isner served this week in Houston on his way to the title, including 7 in the final, with speeds up to 144 miles per hour. Pete Sampras had previously held the record in Houston with 52.

Isner can't rest on his laurels however; hours after winning he was on a plane to Europe because his first match at the Monaco Masters is probably on Tuesday. That's where 8-time defending champion Rafael Nadal is very likely to win his 9th title since both Federer and Ferrer are not in the draw and Djokovic is likely to withdraw due to the ankle injury he suffered last weekend dispatching Sam Querrey and the United States in the Davis Cup quarterfinals. World #2 Murray is hoping to at least put up his resistance and reduce the size of Djokovic's sizable lead for the top spot by doing well in his half of the draw. Nadal needs to do well in the clay court season if he is to have a chance to remain in the Top 5 before Roland Garros, although it is very possible the King of Clay could win his 8th French Open title without being seeded #1, but a low seed could have him run into fellow members of Cronin's Top 5 clay court list in the quarterfinals or semifinals, which could complicate Rafa's goal to cement his status as the best clay court player of all time.

Last year, Rafa won every tournament he played in on clay except Madrid, where he lost to fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco (for the first time in 14 meetings!) on blue clay. (The Madrid Masters will be played on red clay this year.) It's very possible that he could sweep all three clay court ATP Masters tournaments (in Monaco, Madrid and Rome) this year, something he has only done once before, in 2010. In 2010, Nadal was also coming back from an injury lay-off and had his best year on tour winning 3 majors (2010 French Open over Robin Soderling, 2010 Wimbledon over Tomas Berdych and 2010 US Open over Djokovic). Will 2013 be a reprise of 2010? Time will tell.

SHOCK! Nadal Loses Clay Court Final In Comeback

AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo

Rafael Nadal, playing in his first tournament in seven months (since his shocking 2nd round exit from 2012 Wimbledon at the hands of Lukas Rosol), lost the singles final of the year's first clay court tournament in Vina del Mar, Chile to 73-ranked Horacio Zeballos 6-7(2) 7-6(6) 6-4. This was only the 5th clay court final Nadal had ever lost in his career and his first ever loss to a fellow left-handed player on red clay. (Nadal lost to Fernando Verdasco on the blue clay of the Madrid Masters tournament last May.)

Zeballos's title win was the very first ATP tour championship for the 27-year-old from Argentina despite turning professional in 2003. In 2012, Zeballos did not advance past the 2nd round of any tournament he entered on the ATP tour, but in Vina del Mar he beat four seeded players in succession to claim the title: #4 seed Pablo Andujar, #5 seed Albert Ramos, #8 seed Carlos Berlocq and #1 seed Nadal. The Argentinean won on his first match point at 4-5, 0-40 in the third set.

Nadal said that he felt some pain in his troublesome left knee earlier in the week. He teamed up with his good buddy Juan "Pico" Monaco to play the doubles and reached the final, losing to Potito Starace and Paolo Lorenzi of Italy 6-2 6-4.

Nadal will continue his comeback by playing another clay court tournament, in Sao Paulo, Brazil next week.

LOOK: Nadal and Monaco Shirtless After Swim

If you have been wondering, like most of the tennis world has, what Rafael Nadal has been up to on his long injury-induced sabbatical from tennis since July 2012, this shirtless picture posted by Juan Mónaco to his Facebook page this weekend shows that it looks like the current World #4 at least has not fallen out of shape.

Even though Mónaco is from Argentina not Spain, the two Spanish-speaking tennis players are clearly buddies and the World #10 player is on vacation in Mallorca hanging out with Nadal before he continues his quest to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, one of the most prestigious (and lucrative) tournaments of the year, in which only the Top 8 players are invited. Since Nadal is almost certainly going to turn down his invitation, the person who places 9th in the Race to London standings (Mónaco is currently 12th) will likely make it into the tournament. Ahead of Mónaco is Janko Tipsarevich, Nicolas Almagro and Richard Gasquet.

Nadal has said that he is aiming to return to competitive tennis at the 2013 Australian Open. We hope that is indeed the case, and look forward to seeing all of the Big 4 in action at the same time.

Hat/tip to Tennis.com

2012 FRENCH OPEN Day 9: Qualifier Beats Champ

Shvedova celebrates

Li slumps

Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, ranked 142 in the World and a qualifier for the 2012 French Open, upset defending champion Li Na in three sets on Day 9 of Roland Garros in Paris. The score was 3-2 6-2 6-0 and took just over 2 hours. Shvedova was ranked as high at 29 in the world two years ago after reaching her first major quarterfinal here in Paris but had plummeted down the rankings since then. Li had been playing excellent tennis throughout the clay court season and although she had been flying under the radar for most of the tournament, her loss before the quarterfinals as a solid Top 10 player was still a surprise.

Other important results on Day 9 of the tournament was the conclusion of two men's matches carried over from Day 8. The two players leading (Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Juan Martin del Potro) were able to finish off their opponents, Stanislas Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych, respectively. As reward, the two will face World #1 Novak Djokovic and World #3 Roger Federer in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. 6-time defending champion embarrassed Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-2 6-0 6-0 to reach a quarterfinal showdown with compatriot Nicolas Almagro. World #4 Andy Murray ended the hopes of the hometown crowd of having two French quarterfinalists by defeating Richard Gasquet in 4-sets while David Ferrer continued his mechanic demolition of his opponents by adding Janko Tipsarevic to his list of victims. Next up for the Valencia Terminator is Murray, who is trying to reach his 6th consecutive major semifinal.

The dismissal of the defending champion notwithstanding, the match of the day was probably the 3 hour slugfest between Maria Sharapova and Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic won by the Russian 6-4 6-7(5) 6-2. Until this round you could count on one hand the number of games the once and future World #1 had lost in her first 3 matches. In Zakapalova she faced a player who could match Sharapova's firepower off the ground and outmatch her her mobility on the ground. What neither Zakapalova or Sharapova could do was hold serve. The conditions were damp, cold and windy like Day 8 and this led to arguably more exciting tennis. There were twenty-one(!) service breaks in 30 service games played. This does not bode well for Sharapova's chances to win the title for which she is now considered the favorite, but it is doubtful she will have as bad a serving day as she had today. Other results from today was World #3 Petra Kvitova's dismissal of the last American in the draw, Varvara Lepchenko and Kaia Kanepi's second consecutive 3-set win.

On Tuesday and Wednesday the men's and women's quarterfinals will be played.

2012 FRENCH OPEN Day 7: Lepchenko Upsets Schiavone

Varvara Lepchenko, a naturalized U.S. citizen born in Uzbekistan (who I saw close up play a tough set against Aggie Radwanska at the Madrid Open which I attended while on vacation last month), eliminated 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the best match of Day 7 at Roland Garros 6-3 3-6 8-6 in 3 hours, 2 minutes. Some people called it an upset, but I totally expected Varvara to win this match. Other winners on Day 7 were Maria Sharapova, Kaia Kanepi (over former #1 Carolina Wozniacki), 2011 French Open champion Li Na and 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova. The last two players dropped a set but easily won the deciding set against their less experienced opponents. Lepchenko plays Kvitova in the 4th round and it should be a tough match since lefties also do not like playing each other (since it happens so rarely). Lepchenko and Sloane Stephens are the two remaining American players in the tournament (male or female).

On the men's side the best match of the day was the very fit Juan Monaco's win over future phenom Milos Raonic 6-7(5) 6-3 6-7(5) 6-3 6-4 in nearly 5 hours. Monaco's prize will be a 4th round appointment with the King of Clay Rafael Nadal who made short work of attractive Eduardo Schwank. Other contenders to win today were Janko Tipsarevic, David Ferrer, Richard Gasquet (demolishing Tommy Haas 6-7(3) 6-3 6-0 6-0) and Nicolas Almagro.

Monaco Beats Isner To Win U.S. Clay Title

Juan Monaco of Argentina won his 2nd clay court tournament of 2012, beating American John Isner 6-2 3-6 6-3 to win the singles tile at the U.S. Clay Court Championship in Houston. Isner, who is now the top-ranked American player in the world ranked #9, was undefeated on clay for the year, dropped to 7-1 with the loss. Monaco is World #16 but is 11-2 on clay for 2012 and lost a very tough semifinal match on hard courts against World #1Novak Djokovic in Miami two weeks ago.

Interestingly, Djokovic is in Monaco this weekend preparing to play in the Monte Carlo Masters, the clay-court tournament which world #2 Rafael Nadal has won a record 7 times, and sports an astonishing 39-1  record, which includes a 37-match winning streak. Nadal has lost an excruciating 7 consecutive finals to the Serb, including the last three major finals. Djokovic was responsible for Nadal's only two losses on clay in 2011, at the Madrid Masters and at the Rome Masters. This year, yours truly will be attending the Rome and Madrid Masters in person!

The mental significance of Djokovic going to Monte Carlo to face Nadal at his strength can not be underestimated. World #2 Andy Murray is also there, but World #4 Roger Federer is not.

KEY BISCAYNE '12: Djokovic Beats Murray To Defend Title

Following World #2 Rafael Nadal's surprise withdrawal from the Sony Ericsson Open on Friday due to a knee injury (the morning after his 6-2 5-7 6-4 win against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) before his semifinal showdown with World #4 Andy Murray and World #1 Novak Djokovic's clutch dismissal of hunky and deceptively powerful Juan Monaco 6-0 7-6(5), the winner of the final was almost a foregone conclusion. Djokovic defended his 2011 Sony Ericsson Open by defeating Murray 6-1 7-6(4).

Despite being the first person to beat Djokovic in 2012, there are very few people who believe that Murray will be the person to break the stranglehold that Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Federer currently have at the pinnacle of men's tennis. The question is, does Murray believe, and if so, does he have the skill and commitment to do what it takes to break through to the top? There's no question that he's getting closer, so that's a good sign. Now, he has to start taking advantage of the golden opportunities (like Nadal withdrawing from an ATP Masters semifinal!) when they arise.

With his win today, Djokovic improves his career head-to-head to 8 wins and 5 losses against Murray, and claimed his 30th career ATP Tour title and 11th ATP Masters title, tied 4th with Pete Sampras on the all-time list behind Andre Agassi  (17) and Nadal and Federer (19). He becomes the first player since he himself did it in 2007 to win the Miami Masters series title without losing a set. He joins Sampras and Agassi as the only players to win this title 3 times or more (2007, 2011 and 2012). This is also the first time he has successfully defended an ATP Masters series title. He has 3 more Masters Shields won in 2011 to defend in 2012 (Madrid, Rome and Montreal).

It should be interesting to see how many of these he can defend, especially on the clay.

Nadal Leads Spain To 2011 Davis Cup Victory

From left to right: Fernando Verdasco, Feliciano Lopez, David Ferrer, Rafael Nadal,
Marcos Granollers and Spain's Davis Cup Captain Albert Costa. (AFP Photo/Cristina Quicler)

Yesterday World #2 Rafael Nadal powered his country of Spain to a 3-1 win in the Davis Cup final for the third time in his career, 5th time overall for Spain. Nadal whipped Juan Monaco on Argentina 6-1 6-1 6-2 and then came back from a set down to close out the tie by defeating Juan Martin del Potro 1-6 6-4 6-1 7-6(0) on clay in Seville, Spain. World #5 David Ferrer also contributed to his country's victory by outlasting del Potro in a gruelling 6-2, 6-7(2), 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 five-set win.

Nadal had helped Spain win the 2004 Davis Cup over the United States in 2004 (as a teenager) and in 2008 over Argentina. Argentina becomes the first country to reach the final tie four times without a victory. The 6-time Roland Garros champion is not known as "The King of Clay" for nothing; despite suffering his most lopsided loss of a set on the surface in years, Nadal was able to devise a solution to the hard-hitting, 6'6" Argentinian and maintain his incredible record of only 7 clay court losses in professional play in his career. Beating Spain on clay, with Nadal, Ferrer, Verdasco, Lopez and the rest of "the Spanish Armada" is an almost impossible proposition for any country, as Spain proved once again on Sunday. Their only loss of a point in the match-up with Argentina was when David Nalbandian and Eduardo Schwank were able to defeat the doubles team of Lopez and Verdasco (hubba hubba!)

Djokovic Gives Tsonga Walk-Over in Paris Masters

Novak Djokovic withdrew from the Paris Masters tournament on Friday before his quarterfinal match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, handing the Frenchman a walk-over into the semifinals, where he will face John Isner (who beat World #5 David Ferrer 6-3 3-6 6-3). Djokovic published a statement on his official website, NovakDjokovic.rs, which said (in Serbo-Croatian): "Sadly I have to inform you that I have withdrawn from the tournament. I have pushed myself to the limit by playing, and after the match yesterday my shoulder got worse."

Djokovic has only lost 4 times all year, compared to 69 wins. His 69th win was a come-from-behind win against Viktor Troicki. By playing in Paris even though his shoulder injury is clearly not recovered from his shocking loss to Kei Nishikori last Saturday in Switzerland, the World #1 won a $1.6 million bonus from the ATP for playing in the Paris Masters as part of an incentive for the top players to play all 8 Masters tournaments in a year. Djokovic had already wthdrawn from the Shanghai Masters so if he withdrew from Paris his potential $2 million bonus for winning the most Masters series titles in 2011would have been reduced to nothing. Djokovic's 2011 winnings are well above $10 million because he has won 3 Major titles and 5 Masters series titles so far. His financial haul could increase even more if he does well at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals which start on Sunday November 20th in London.

Meanwhile back in Paris, World #4 Roger Federer is the highest remaining seed left in the only Masters tournament he has never won in his long storied career. He will face Tomas Berdych (who eliminated World #3 Andy Murray) in one semifinal while Isner and Tsonga face off in the other. A Federer-Tsonga final on Sunday in Paris would be an incredible moment.

Federer Wins 800th Tour Match

The Paris Masters tournament is heating up and Roger Federer made history by winning his 800th ATP tour match by defeating Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3 7-5 to reach the semifinals. There he will face Tomas Berdych who ended World #3 Andy Murray 17-match, 3-title winning streak with a thrilling, nail-bitingly close 4-6 7-6(5) 6-4 win.

Federer's 800th win puts him at #7 on the all time list, which is headed by Jimmy Connors at 1,242.

1,242— Jimmy Connors
1,071— Ivan Lendl
923— Guillermo Vilas
875— John McEnroe
870— Andre Agassi
806— Stefan Edberg
800— Roger Federer

Anyone think Rafael Nadal will get to 800 wins? I'm sure one of Federer's goals is to get into the Top 5 on this list, but I think getting past Agassi and McEnroe will be difficult, especially if Federer retires at the end of 2012, which I suspect will happen.